


The Magician

by LuxLouise



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Harry, F/M, Fluffy, Hermione might be a muggle, No-Voldemort AU, james and lily live, street magician
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:46:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25074088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuxLouise/pseuds/LuxLouise
Summary: Hermione’s taken with a handsome street magician with a secret
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 123
Kudos: 245
Collections: LoveDump 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NuclearNik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NuclearNik/gifts).



> I wrote this for the wonderful NuclearNik! You were my first beta and I adore you! You’re such a warm and loving part of the fandom!
> 
> Thanks to TriDogMom for beta-ing this!
> 
> I own nothing!

She couldn't figure out how he was doing it. The messy haired man had been in this same spot for the last month, always a few feet from the entrance of the bookshop she worked at, always with a smile on his face. He seemed nice enough but Hermione didn't trust him. He looked to be in his early twenties, close to her age and even she could admit, the most beautiful bright green eyes she had ever seen. She would stop everyday and watch him do a magic trick, trying to figure out how he did it but she had never been able too.

On that particular day, she watched him pull a bouquet of flowers, seemingly from nowhere and give them to a little girl who was watching and clapping, a look of awe on her face as she took the flowers. Taking a closer look, Hermione saw the flowers were actually ~real~. She had to figure it out. Nothing bothered her more than not knowing how something worked. It was one of the bigger downfalls to being so bright, she could take nothing at face value, she had to know the mechanics behind everything.

Clapping along with the few other people who had gathered to watch him, she started to walk home, her flat just two blocks away. Hermione hadn't gone more than a few feet when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She jumped and spun around quickly, seeing the green eyed magician smiling at her.

"You scared me, don't sneak up on people like that," she scolded.

"I didn't mean to startle you," he told her with a grin. "I've noticed you stopping by to watch a few times, you don't look like you enjoy the show."

Hermione flushed. "It's not that I don't enjoy it, I just don't know how you're doing it," she explained.

"Magic," he said simply, the same grin on his face that she refused to find attractive.

"Oh yes I'm sure. I just don't like not knowing how things work is all. I'll figure it out eventually," she told him, turning to walk off.

"I'm Harry by the way, Harry Potter. What's your name?"

"If you know magic, you'll figure it out," she called over her shoulder, not bothering to stop.

\--

Every other day for the next two weeks, as she would walk past Harry the magician, he would walk her to the entrance of her building and try to guess her name.

"Can you at least give me a hint?" he begged.

"Why do you want to know my name anyway?"

Harry grabbed her hand before she could walk inside. "So I can take you on a proper date, get to know you. That's the only way I can tell you how I do what I do," he said seriously.

Fighting the blush that was spreading down her neck, Hermione sighed. "Shakespeare."

He smiled brightly and let go of her hand, she refused to acknowledge the brief sadness that passed through her at the loss of contact.

"That narrows it down a bit then, doesn't it?" Harry said with a laugh. "If I guess your name by the end of the week, will you let me take you out to dinner this weekend? A real date?"

The look on his face was so sincere and earnest, Hermione couldn't help but nod her head. The past couple weeks had been lovely. Having a man be so interested in her was a new phenomenon for her and she couldn't help but be incredibly flattered.

"Okay, I'll go out with you if you can guess my name." Feeling a bit like Rumplestiltskin as she said so she was unable to contain the giggle that the thought brought.

\--

Harry made a few guesses the following days, Juliet, Ophelia, Rosalind, but never seemed to get discouraged when she told him he was wrong. He walked her home everyday, sometimes standing outside her building with her for a couple hours just talking about their lives. It was the most fun she had had in a long time. The more she got to know him, the more she liked him. He was caring, sweet, funny, and very smart. She learned he had recently moved to London from the countryside and was in some sort of police training. He was a bit vague on his schooling and his job but Hermione had been told she had a habit of over-sharing with new people.

Telling her about the boarding school he had attended in Scotland sounded amazing, he told her about his friends, one of whom was some sort of professional athlete. His mother was some sort of teacher at the boarding school he had attended and his father worked in the same field as he did. It sounded as though he had a wonderful family and Hermione couldn't help but hope she got the chance to meet them.

In return, Hermione told him about growing up with parents who were more interested in their careers than the genius daughter they had. She had gone to an all girls boarding school and then on to Oxford where she was currently on a gap year before finishing her degree in English. Hermione told him about growing up with very few friends, preferring to get lost in a fictional world.

"I used to dream about being swept away to a magical world with dragons and mermaids." She laughed, missing the wide eyed look he gave her. "Daft, isn't it?"

On Friday, Hermione was counting the hours until she could leave the shop and see Harry. When her shift was finally over, she found him standing next to the door looking nervous.

"Everything alright?" she asked him.

He gave her a small smile. "Everything's grand, ready to head home?"

"Sure." she said, heading down the sidewalk, trying not to show the disappointment she felt when he didn't start to attempt her name.

"Look Harry, I understand if you don't want to go on a date anymore, I know I'm not exactly a catch," Hermione said, refusing to look over at him, her eyes trained to the sidewalk ahead.

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her to a quiet alley right next to her building.

"It's not that. I want to go on a date with you, more than anything but there are things I haven't told you. Things I _can't_ tell you. Not yet anyway." He was pacing a bit, Hermione was starting to get concerned.

"I don't expect you to tell me all your secrets, Harry," she said quietly.

"Hermione."

She looked up at him, shocked. He was staring at her with a strange look in his eye.

"Your name's Hermione, from a Winter's Tale. I figured it out a couple days ago but I didn't want to cut our time. These last two weeks have been some of the best in my entire life."

Her mouth fell open as he confessed.

"How did you figure it out?" she asked, even though it was the least important thing she wanted to ask.

Harry laughed a bit. "You handed me one of your books last week, I opened the cover and your name was on the inside of it." He shrugged his shoulders. "I want to go on a date with you, I want to get to know you more, there's just something about you that feels _right_."

"I feel it too. Like something inside me is pulling me to you."

He looked up sharply at her. "What do you mean?"

Blushing, Hermione looked down at her hands again, unable to make eye contact. "I just feel this pull deep inside, don't ask me what it is, but I know its about you, it's like my very soul is calling out to you." She sighed. "I sound like a nutter."

"No you don't. I feel it too." He walked forward, tilting her head up to look into his bright green eyes.

"What if I told you that magic was real," he whispered, leaning closer.

"I would say that's illogical but something inside me is telling me that's the most true thing I've ever heard."

Then his lips were on her, pressing against her with just enough pressure. It was the most perfect kiss she had ever had. His hand was still gripping her chin lightly while his other arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her even closer. When he pulled back, she let out a disgruntled noise that made him laugh.

"I think we have a lot to talk about."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry speaks with his family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I’ve been secretly working on this story for some time and I’m finally posting today on my writing anniversary!
> 
> Thanks to TriDogMom for all of her amazing beta work!
> 
> *Updates will be bi-weekly*

The moment he walked away from Hermione, Harry slipped down into a quiet alley, looked around to check for muggles, and apparated away. He reappeared in the foyer of his parents home. Potter Manor was his ancestoral home and had been in his family since Godric Gryffindor. Portraits called out to him as he walked quickly through the hallways, heading for his fathers office. It was mid-October and his mother was still at Hogwarts where she was the Magical Theory professor.

Before knocking on his fathers door, he leaned his back against the door and took a deep breath. The implications that muggleborns had their magic blocked when they were small had always been a rumor but this could be the proof his father and Sirius had been looking for to put those old bastards away. Muggleborn enrollment at Hogwarts had been trending down in the years before Harry had been born until Bagnold had been ousted from Minister and a lot of the older Pure-Blood heads of departments had been let go. James, in his position as Head Auror and Sirius in the Department of Mysteries had been looking or a cause for years but had hit a stand-still.

Suddenly, the door to his fathers office opened, surprising Harry and he fell backwards into the room, his fathers booming laughter filled the air around him.

“I was wondering when you were going to come in.” James Potter chuckled from his place behind his desk, his wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose as he continued to look over papers that were scattered across his desk.

Harry stood, one hand rubbing his lower back. “Thanks for that. I need to talk to you about something.”

James looked up as Harry took a seat across the desk from him, a somber look on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

Looking up to find his dad had removed his glasses and pushed his papers away. His parents had always given him their undivided attention when he had problems and it was nice to see that nothing had changed.

“I met a girl, a few weeks ago actually. Theres something about her, something that I’ve been looking for and didn’t think I would ever find,” his thoughts were running a million miles a minute and didn’t know how to even phrase this.

“She’s a muggle, but I don’t think she actually is.” His father drew in a sharp breath and stood, walking to the Floo across the room, throwing some powder in and calling out Sirius’ address.

He watched as his father stuck his head in the flames and hold a brief conversation before he pulled his head out and stood up, taking a step back. Less than a minute later, Harrys Godfather, Sirius Black stepped through the fireplace, wiping ash off his dark grey robes.

“Tell me everything about this girl, pup.” Sirius said, leaning against James’ desk.

Harry relayed to them his interactions with Hermione, the way he felt when he was near her, how his core seemed to ache when he went more than two days without seeing her. He also explained how she said she felt the same thing, the dreams she had of magical beings she should have no idea were real.

He watched as his father and Sirius exchanged significant looks.

“We need to get Lils and Moony here as soon as classes end for the day.” James said quietly, shuffling the papers on his desk back into their appropriate folders before using his wand to send them to his briefcase across the room.

“Marly needs to be brought in too. You know she’s been spending as much time as she can get away with looking into this. We can’t waste any time.” Sirius told him as he pulled a small communication mirror from his pocket before calling out his wifes name.

“Hey love, you need to leave work and come to Potter manor as soon as you can get away without raising suspicion.” Sirius made eye contact with Harry over the mirror.

Harry could hear his Aunt Marlene asking questions as Sirius raised a hand and took a deep breath. “Marly, Pheonix.”

Silence fell and the reality of what was happening washed over Harry. Pheonix was the code word their family used when something important was happening and everyone needed to get home as soon as possible. Sirius shut the mirror and handed it to James who called Lily, repeating only the same phrase before hanging up and calling his Uncle Moony and doing the same.

Still seated across the desk, Harry felt like he was frozen. Was she the one? When his parents had agreed to take him to Rome the summer he graduated from Hogwarts to see if he had a soulmate, he had been so excited. Seeing that he did in fact have a soul mate but the name had been removed had crushed him. That had been another piece in the puzzle for his dad and Sirius. If your soul mate had died, there would be no record at all. To have the name  _ erased _ was an entirely different story. The wizard who was in charge of the soul mate orb had never seen it before and had no answers to them. 

A hand in front of his face brought Harry out of his spiraling thoughts.

“Son, I asked you a question,” James was saying, his face serious.

Harry scrubbed his hands down his face. “I’m sorry, I was thinking about when we went to Rome. What was the question?”

Concern drifted across his fathers face. “I know, I know. We’re going to figure this out son, I promise. Is she somewhere safe?”   
  


“She’s at her flat, I’m supposed to pick her up at seven tonight to take her to dinner. I promised her I would try to explain things.”

James glanced over and shared a look with Sirius just as the wards tinged, letting them know that Marlene was there. As soon as she entered the office, she took one look at Harry’s expression and marched over to Sirius.

“Start explainng now.”

Not wanting to listen to everything be hashed out again, Harry made his way down to the kitchens to see if the elves had anything around for him to snack on. After Vivi had passed hima plate of scones and a cup of tea, Harry sat down at the counter, lost in thought. She had to be around the same age as him and if she was what they all thought she was, Harry didn’t know her well enough to know how she would handle finding out that not only was magic real but that she was a witch. He had heard horrible stories about witches and wizards who had their magic blocked for one reason or anything and training them when they were older and their magical channels already matured could be dangerous for not only them but those doing the training.

He looked around as the kitchen door opened to find his aunt walking towards him. She pulled him into a tight hug before he could protest.

“What’s been decided?” He asked without taking his eyes off the scone he was picking at.

She let out a breath and sat, pulling the plate from him. “You’re ruining perfectly good pastry. I spoke with your mum briefly and we all think it would be best for you to bring her here so we can all help you explain whats happening to her. James called Peter and as soon as his shift is over at the hospital is over, he’s coming over and will help me run the diagnostics that we’ll need to do,” she placed a hand on his arm gently.

“I need you to prepare yourself. If she isn’t what we think she, we’ll have to obliviate her.”

He sucked in a breath and pulled his arm away. “I’m not wrong Aunt Marly, I can feel it in my core, in my very soul.”

Once more patting his arm, Marlene stood and left him in the kitchen.

\--

Taking a deep breath, Harry knocked on the door to Hermiones flat, brushing his hair over his head trying to get his hair to behave. He had tried growing it out but thought he looked like a prat with hair down to his shoulders.

When her door swung open, his breath caught in his throat. She looked stunning in dark wash denims and a cream sweater that was falling down one shoulder. Her dark brown hair hung down to the middle of her back. But that all paled in comparison to the brilliant smile that was on her face. Her coffee coloured eyes sparkled with happiness as soon as she looked at him and it seemed that she moved towards him, into his space without concious thought, just as he did when he took her hand.

“Hi,” she breathed out, the smile never leaving her face.”

“You look beautiful, stunning really.” He found the blush that rose up her neck to her cheeks incredibly charming. He let go of her hand to try to clear his head.

“Theres been a bit of a change in plans. I’d like you to come meet my parents tonight.”

Confusion crossed her face and she stepped towards him. “Is everything alright?”

He cupped her cheek and smiled inwardly when she leaned into it. “Everythings fine. I just want to explain things to you properly and they’ll be able to help, it’s nothing to worry about I promise.” **

Her face was tinged with confusion and it killed him. There was something in his magic calling to hers and he was going to find out why she didn’t have magic. The moment she turned her back to him to pick up her purse from where it sat on the small table next to the door, he surruptisiouly pulled his wand out and quietly stunned her, catching her lithe form before she could hit the floor.

“I’m so sorry, love.” Turning on the spot, there was a quiet pop and they were both gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry takes Hermione home and things come to light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me updating on time when I was 100% sure I wouldn’t!
> 
> Sorry this is so short, life has been rough!
> 
> Thanks to my beta, TriDogMom for her wonderful work!! All mistakes are my own and I own nothing!

He was pacing around the sitting room of Potter Manor, glancing over at Hermione’s sleeping body every few seconds. There was a low level of conversation going on in the background that he was tuning out. His mother and Remus had arrived while he had been gone, with Peter arriving just moments before he and Hermione had. He watched as his Uncle Peter once more stepped forward and began another diagnostic charm on her.

The first time he had cast, they had all gathered around her body, breaths held. His Uncle Peter had rolled his eyes.

“It’s a standard diagnostic charm. You all need a calming draught.”

Harry had a vague understanding of healing charms but not enough to be able to read the runes that had been shimmering above Hermione’s prone body. Another glance found his Aunt Marlene sitting on her knees, her wand in hand as she read through rune after rune that was hovering. When her breath caught, Harry hurried across the room, dropping onto the floor next to Hermione. He started to grab her hand but a quick look at his uncle told him not too.

“There’s a bind in her magic, several,” Marlene stated, her eyes never leaving the sparkling runes that represented Hermione.

“It looks as though the first one was placed when she was around two or three and she had several placed on her regularly until she turned seventeen.”

His heart was pounding as Harry took in what had been discovered. He could vaguely hear his mum and Remus asking questions and his Dad and Padfoot demanding answers but it was all white noise. While he didn’t touch her so his magic wouldn’t interfere with the diagnostics, his eyes never left her sleeping face. To find out for sure that someone had purposefully blocked her magic repeatedly, that she had been denied what made her who she was made his magic ache. Harry  _ knew _ she was his soulmate, he could feel it and that someone had kept her from him, kept them from each other was causing fury to build up inside of him.

A gentle hand on his shoulder jerked him back to what was going on around him. His mum had placed her small hand firmly on his shoulder, grounding him. Harry knew he was dangerously close to losing control of his magic, something that hadn’t happened since he was very small.

“Harry, I need you to take a breath and let it out slowly,” she smiled when he followed her direction. His mum always knew how to help control his temper and help ground him until he could completely calm himself down.

He cleared his throat and stood. “What do we do? Are you able to get a magical signature and find out who put them on her?”

He was not surprised when Peter stepped forward, cancelling the diagnostics as he did so.

“We may be able to on the last binding but because so much time has passed since the first was placed, we’ll have no way of knowing if it’s been the same person,”

His dad and Padfoot were speaking quietly to one another in the corner of the room, glancing every so often over towards Hermione. He knew they would speak up eventually but Harry needed to know what the plan was but words weren’t coming to him.

Marlene walked over to him and pulled him in for a tight hug before looking him in the eye. Her sparkling blue eyes were clouded with worry that didn’t give him any sort of comfort.

“We need to wake her and explain what’s going on. We won’t remove the bindings without her consent and she needs to know that the road ahead if she chooses to have them removed and embrace her magic, will not be easy. The removal will also be very strenuous on her due to her age. She’ll be quite ill for a few days and her magic may be uncontrollable.” Marlene released him and turned to face James.

“Pete and I both agree the most successful way to remove the bindings is in ritual. We’ll need to bring Mary in as Pete won’t be able to be part of the ritual.”

Before anyone could respond, Harry cut in.

“Why can’t Uncle Peter help? He’s the head Healer for the spell damage ward.”

James looked at him fondly. “The ritual will need to be performed by a coven and you know covens and conclaves can’t practice together.” He glanced over at his wife whose eyes were filled with tears she was trying to hold back.

“You’re mum and Marly are more than capable of this. Your Aunt Mary is an exceptional healer, which you well know. We’ll all be on stand-by to help when they’re done.”

With the diagnostics done, Harry knelt again and grasped Hermione’s hand.

“I don’t know how she will react to all of this. We know each other but I don’t know her well enough yet to even be able to speculate how she’ll react.” It hurt to even think that she may reject everything that she would soon be told. That she may react negatively and not want anything to do with him caused his heart to speed up.

The silence that descended upon the group was deafening. Everyone was lost in their thoughts and Harry’s weren’t straying far from his soul mate.

“Well, there’s nothing for it,” Sirius said suddenly, “Let’s wake her up.”

Harry’s hand gripped hers even tighter for a moment before releasing it.

“I think it should just be me in here when she wakes up. She’s likely to be pretty irritated with me,” Harry told them, his cheeks flaming.

Lily had a hand on her hip and one eyebrow raised, “And why, pray tell dear son, why will she be irritated with you?”

Scratching the back of his neck, Harry looked anywhere but at his mother. “I may have uh, stunned her when I got to her flat.”

The cacophony that exploded around him was on par with a Quidditch game. Voices were talking over one another, his mum and Aunt Marly were in his face, his dad and uncles were laughing at him while simultaneously shaking their heads at his idiocy.

“Harry James Potter, I thought you were raised better than that! I can’t believe you would do something so inconsiderate!” Lily began scolding him. Harry just took his lecture and endured it with as much dignity as he could. There was no stopping his mum once she got started.

Once she had finally run out of steam, Harry pulled her in for a quick hug.

“I promise I will never do it again. Now, if you all would kindly go away, I’ll wake her up and start explaining things.”

After everyone had finally left, though he was certain every single one of them was on the other side of the door, listening in. He picked her up and laid her on the sofa that was situated in front of the large fireplace. After reviving her, he watched as she began to stir. Her eyes fluttered open. She looked around, likely accessing her surroundings before her dark brown eyes fell on him.

“Harry? What happened? Where are we?” Her voice was a bit hoarse and he stood immediately and went to the bar cart in the corner of the room and poured her a small glass of water.

He handed her the glass and was thankful when she immediately drank it. “We’re at my parent’s house. I’m so sorry that I had to be mysterious about it but there are things that I need to tell you and by the end, you’ll probably be pretty angry at me.”

She lifted her eyebrow the same way his mum, who he was pretty sure had learned how to do that from Professor McGonagall, did and sat the glass of water on the table next to her, crossing her arms.

“Are you finally going to tell me about magic? About how I was at home and suddenly I’m on your parent’s sofa with no memory of getting here?”

His face heated with blush and he averted his gaze. “Yes, I am truly sorry.”

“Well, get on with it then.”

With a sigh, Harry began. “Magic is real, most things you’ve ever read about are real. Vampires, werewolves, fairies, it’s all real. I’m a wizard, I went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when I was eleven. Now, I’m an Auror which is pretty much a magical police officer.”

Harry chanced a glance at her and found her expression hadn’t changed, her eyes had never left his face and her arms were still crossed tightly over her chest.

“My parents are both magical but there are those in our society that are born to Muggles, that means non-magical. They are called Muggleborns. When I met you, something inside me, inside my magic told me that I needed to know you. I didn’t understand because I thought you were a Muggle but the more time I spent with you and the more my magic called out to you I realised that you  _ must _ be magical.”

He stood at this point and began pacing the floor in front of her, still not looking at her in fear of what her expression may be.

“Earlier today, I came here to speak with my father, he’s the Head Auror and I thought he would be best to help me. There has been a drastic decline in Muggleborn children but no one knew why. My dad and Padfoot, I mean my Uncle Sirius, have been trying to discreetly find out why along with my mum, aunts and uncles. They encouraged me to bring you here so they could find out if you do have magic and if so, why it never manifested.”

It was a brief overview really, but going into details would take a lot of time, time Harry wasn’t sure he had. He glanced over and found her staring into the fireplace, chewing on her bottom lip. He really shouldn’t have found that as attractive as he did.

“And do I?” Hermione asked quietly, her eyes never leaving the fire.

“Yes.”

She nodded, more to herself than to him he thought. Still, she stayed silent, not even moving. Harry couldn’t explain how, but he knew she was thinking.

“My mum as well as my Uncle Remus are professors at Hogwarts and are more than willing to help you learn everything you need to know. If you want your magic woken, my mum, Lily, is the high witch of a coven and her along with my aunts and the other members will help release your magic in ritual.”

The nodding continued and the silence was becoming oppressive. He needed her to say something, yell at him if she wanted.

“I’d like to meet your mother if that’s alright?” As an afterthought, she added, “Alone please.”

Harry’s heart sank but he didn’t show it. He just nodded and strode across the room and opened the door to find his entire family crowded around, all trying to act as though they hadn’t been listening. His mum smiled at him sadly and strode into the room, shutting the door behind her and leaving Harry to stare at the closed door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
